When politicians get a free ride, citizen’s voices are excluded from public policy.

The Globe recently editorialized about how few incumbents are facing contested elections (“Incumbents Rule,” Boston Globe, June 3, 2006). With 68 percent of state Senate and Representative seats currently uncontested, Massachusetts ranks near the bottom of competitive elections in the U.S.

When politicians get a free ride, citizen’s voices are excluded from public policy.

Passage of the “Ballot Freedom” initiative would give voters a helpful tool to address the lack of competition in Massachusetts politics. Ballot Freedom would make it possible for voters to unite behind an alternative party’s platform, but cast their vote in coalition with a major party’s candidate.

This “open ballot” approach would give independent, issue-based parties the opportunity to grow, without having to ask supporters to waste their vote on a candidate who can’t win. Giving new political parties more options will make our elections more competitive. Giving voters more choices will also stimulate more citizen participation.

Comments

This initiative paves the way for a bogus "Working Families Party" in MA. The WFP is a cynical trick to rename the Democrats.

We need a workers party, politically and organizationally independent of the capitalist parties. This initiative does nothing to build such a party; it's goal is to put obstacles in the way of working class political independence.

We need a Labor Union based Workers Party to fight for the interests of the vast majority of people. The Democratic Party is the graveyard of social movements....Rand Wilson, you are just another goul herding people to the graveyard.